The University of León is a Spanish public university with campus in León and Ponferrada.The university is found in 1843, when it was created the Normal School for Teachers or Masters Seminar of Public Instruction and the subaltern school of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1852, laying the foundations of Leon future university. Founded in 1979 as a splitting of the University of Oviedo, from the various schools and colleges that depend on that, more or less existed long ago in the city of Leon.In recent years the university has signed important cooperation agreements, among which the one signed with the University of Washington, which has allowed the installation in Leon of the second European Headquarters this university to learn Spanish, with capacity for 500 students, and signed with the Xiangtan University, which has led to the establishment in the city of Confucius Institute.
Group living can provide antipredator benefits through collective vigilance, but individual contributions to vigilance often vary with experience and age. In this study, we investigated whether adult carrion crows (Corvus corone) adjust their vigilance depending on group composition, particularly the presence of less vigilant yearlings. In a family living population of crows in Northern Spain, we compared the vigilance behavior of yearlings and adults and we analyzed whether adults’ vigilance varied depending on the composition of the group. Yearlings were significantly less vigilant than adults. Adult crows significantly reduced their vigilance rate as the number of adult group members increased, but effectively ignored yearlings when setting their vigilance effort. These findings support the idea that adults finely adjust their antipredator behavior based on the number of experienced group members rather than the total number of individuals. Nevertheless, yearlings may still benefit by foraging near tolerant adults within family groups, gaining protection without incurring competition costs. This dynamic may play a role in promoting yearling delayed dispersal, creating the conditions that favor cooperative breeding. Our study highlights the nuanced mechanisms by which social factors influence vigilance in group-living animals. The “many eyes” hypothesis suggests that group living allows animals to reduce individual vigilance against predators, thereby improving foraging efficiency. However, group members may not contribute equally to vigilance. Our study shows that in family-living carrion crows, younger individuals (yearlings) are less vigilant than adults, likely due to inexperience and greater feeding needs. As a result, adult crows adjust their vigilance behavior based only on the number of experienced, reliable group members rather than the total number of individuals present. Yearlings who are still learning to assess risk likely benefit from foraging alongside tolerant adults.
Despite swine dysentery’s relevance in the pork industry, there are still gaps in our understanding of its pathogenesis and the impact of the infection in the gut. This study aimed to characterize the in vivo colonic metabolome of pigs experimentally infected with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae at the onset of fecal shedding (Early_inf group, n = 6) and during acute clinical disease characterized by mucohemorrhagic diarrhea (Acute_inf group, n = 8) compared with non-infected controls (n = 16). The metabolic profile of the colonic contents changed progressively with disease severity, showing an intermediate pattern in the Early_inf group between the control and the Acute_inf groups (p < 0.05). In acute disease, the metabolome was defined by increased concentrations of amino acids, carnitine derivatives, arachidic acid, 1,2-butanediol, and lactic acid, along with decreased levels of anti-inflammatory compounds. In the Early_inf group, increases were observed in amino acids, organic acids, amines, myo-inositol, quinoline, and 1,2-butanediol, whereas linolenic acid and oxalic acid decreased. Integrated analysis of the colonic metabolome and metagenome revealed a strong correlation between metabolic and microbial profiles, particularly in the Acute_inf group, where differential metabolites were associated with B. hyodysenteriae, Campylobacter hyointestinalis, and Velocimicrobium ethanolgignens. Metabolites showed high predictive potential for the disease stage, with lactic acid and arachidic acid being key markers of acute infection and dihydroxyacetone and leucine distinguishing early infection. Overall, this study reveals significant alterations in the colonic metabolome and its association with the microbiota during swine dysentery, providing new insights into the pathophysiology of the disease and contributing to the development of improved prevention and treatment strategies.
Rain-on-snow (ROS) events represent a key hydrometeorological process in mountainous regions, where liquid precipitation falling onto an existing snowpack can strongly enhance runoff generation and flood risk. Despite their relevance, ROS dynamics remain poorly documented in many mid-latitude mountain ranges. This study provides the first characterization of ROS events in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Iberian Peninsula) over the period 1985–2020. Using CERRA-Land reanalysis data, ROS events were identified based on liquid precipitation thresholds and snowpack depletion. A total of 501 ROS episodes were detected, exhibiting pronounced interannual variability and a clear linkage with elevation, with maximum frequencies concentrated on high-altitude central massifs. Seasonal patterns reveal widespread ROS occurrence during winter, whereas autumn and spring events are increasingly restricted to elevations above 1200 m. Synoptic classification using geopotential height, temperature, and sea-level pressure fields identified five dominant weather types, primarily associated with Atlantic air-mass advection. Trend analysis indicates weak but spatially coherent increases in ROS frequency at elevations above 1000 m, particularly in winter, contrasted by neutral or negative tendencies at lower elevations. These findings highlight links between ROS occurrence and elevation, atmospheric circulation and ongoing changes in temperature and precipitation phase, with important implications for future hydrological management in temperate mountain areas.
Peatlands in north-west Iberia are globally important carbon reservoirs, yet their fen communities remain less well understood than those of bogs. Here, we present a multiproxy study of a 11,100 cal. yr BP peat sequence cored at the Toxiza fen (TOX, Xistral Mountains, Galicia). Our analyses of palynology, rarefaction, charcoal, elemental composition and CIELab colour identify three main ecological phases. First, early Holocene mire initiation through terrestrialisation: wet meadows progressively replaced by a transitional fen at 10,350 cal. yr BP, and subsequently by a Sphagnum-rich fen. Second, the mire experienced a prolonged phase of hydrological stability during the Holocene Climatic Optimum, characterised by Sphagnum-rich vegetation, high organic-matter content and sustained peat accumulation. Third, late Holocene increasing disturbance, including catchment erosion ( 4900-4200 cal. yr BP) and fire-intense phases leading to an Ericaceae-rich fen; with Sphagnum partially recovered in reduced-burning intervals. Phases of ecological transition (i.e., early Holocene terrestrialisation and late Holocene disturbance) showed higher pollen richness, whereas comparatively stable values were found during the mid-Holocene, reflecting long-term ecosystem stability. Comparisons with nearby ombrotrophic mires highlight the importance of hydrological setting (minerotrophy vs. ombrotrophy) in shaping peatland vegetation trajectories under similar climatic forcing. Today the fen shows clear signs of degradation, including fire activity, sediment inputs and afforestation pressure, with no clear Sphagnum recovery. The TOX record, therefore, provides a process-based reference baseline for conservation where the mid-Holocene Sphagnum-rich phase represents a benchmark of hydrological stability and minimal disturbance, offering a framework for understanding biodiversity change and for guiding restoration of minerotrophic peatlands under ongoing environmental change.
This review summarised and assessed the current evidence on the use of language-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for the screening of depressive disorders in adults. Most of the studies assessing the use of language-based AI models for the screening of depression were conducted in high-income countries, primarily in the US, and used heterogeneous datasets and populations, limiting generalizability. Most of the evidence was based on text data analysed using transformer models, followed by speech data through convolutional or recurrent neural networks (CNN and RNN models respectively). The evidence combining both modalities (text and speech) and models is limited. Considering the performance for the screening of depressive. disorders, the models tested achieved a performance comparable to standard instruments and cut-off scores, such as the 9-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) with a cut-off of 10 or higher. A better understanding of the performance of language-based AI models in real-world settings is required. However, the evidence identified shows that they can be a relevant resource for this screening of depressive disorders and, consequently, for preventing them and reduce their prevalence, burden, and impact at all levels.
